(RacingWire) – McLaren Mercedes’ Jensen Button won the Grand Prix of Japan doing what he had to keep his chances for the 2011 World Championship alive, but Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel decided he didn’t want to wait another week to clinch the title.
Author: SM Staff
-
Opinion: Elliott Sadler’s Solid Season Has Impressed but Not Enough
When Elliott Sadler and Kevin Harvick announced their partnership for the 2011 Nationwide Series it was supposed to be the beginning of the Emporia, Virginia native’s rebirth. Instead almost a year later it has been nothing but underwhelming.
[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”238″]
[/media-credit]Sadler left behind 12 years of racing in the big leagues for a new home and hopefully a new legacy. A NASCAR rule change before the start of the season helped Sadler become a preseason championship favorite and while he’s in the middle of the fight, he hasn’t won a race yet. Instead the No. 2 OneMain Financial team is relying on his four poles and 21 top 10s to guide them to the finish line.Those statistics are nothing to sneeze at, being among the best of the NNS regular drivers and those competing for the championship. Those drivers though, aren’t trying to prove to everyone that he deserves a second chance. Those drivers don’t already have years of experience under their belt. And so, when it comes to Sadler, more is constantly expected, especially this year.
Of course Sadler might consider winning a race to be icing on the cake because even while losing, he’s winning. It’s unlike his career in Sprint Cup where he was known as the lovable loser. His personality attracted others, not his statistics. Running the M&M’s car Sadler was the perfect driver, fun and happy, great with the fans and the media, but on the track there wasn’t much.
There were a few exciting moments though, but none that Sadler and his fans would have preferred. Like flipping more often than he finished at Talladega. Then came the 2004 season where he finally rose to his potential and won two races, qualified for the Chase and finished ninth in points. On the other spectrum though, was the scary incident at Pocono last season. Sadler was collected in Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch’s mess and hit the guardrail and dirt mound behind it head on.
He jumped from team to team – Wood Brothers, Yates, Evernham and Petty – but it didn’t change much. Sadler was just unfortunately became one of the back runners, seeing the leaders only when they lapped him. Over time the feeling of just being happy to be a Cup Series driver wore off, on Sadler and everyone else.
Earlier this season he revealed that he never found himself in a position where he had a team that believed in each other and wanted to succeed. Or did he have a team owner who would so anything to win. Now though, he’s found one with Kevin and Delana Harvick.
So, while we may be expecting more from Sadler, he’s just enjoying the ride. No longer living on the edge of a cliff waiting for the last straw to push him over. Now getting TV time for all the right reasons by running well and winning fans over again not because he’s an underdog.
Maybe that’s why the expectations where so high entering the season. Pundits wrote about his eventual rise to the top, contending for victories and finally being a leader. The team, the attitude and the opportunities were at the level they should be and in place for Sadler to become a star again. It’s why after 30 races Sadler should have wins under his belt and more than a best finish of third on three occasions. Or led more than 146 total laps.
These aren’t just our expectations though; Sadler knows that he needs to win races. Not just for the championship effort with five races remaining but to validate his move from the Cup Series down to the Nationwide Series. Having already removed the “also ran” category that had haunted him for years, as well as proving he can be a championship driver, winning, oh how winning would make everything better.
Winning is what Sadler came to the NNS to do. Not run around and earn a paycheck, Sadler wanted to have fun while doing what he loves and that’s easy to respect. Except, this is a business where it’s about winning and we’re still waiting for the team to pull through the gates and spray the champagne.
And as the season continues to drive closer to its conclusion, eyes will continue to be on Sadler. He would like to one-day return to the Cup Series but under what he calls the right circumstances. The right circumstances for all of us with expectations, hopefully it comes after Sadler has risen to the top of the NNS series with some wins and even a championship.
-
Keselowski Rules the Kansas Lottery 300
It was a near perfect day for Brad Keselowski, a front row starting spot, a car with an excellent feel from the beginning. When the green flag dropped it became evident that it was a perfect car too.
[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”241″]
[/media-credit]As a matter of fact if it hadn’t been for a miscue that caused him to stall the car on pit road and come out of the pits in 14th position; it would have been a perfect day. But the miscue didn’t slow him down for long, as he made an incredible run from 14th to 1st in 6 laps. He came out of the pits for the last time in 4th spot.If Carl Edwards thought on lap 180 on the restart in front of Keselowski that he had the advantage, he didn’t think it for long because before lap 190, Keselowski’s Discount Tower Dodge would again be leading the way.
When the checker flag waved, Keselowski would claim his first Nationwide Series (NNS) win at Kansas Speedway.
Keselowski had the dominant car and lead four times for 173 of the 200 laps run. It was his fourth win and 17th top-10 finish in the season.
Keselowski who compares his commitment to the NNS to helping family keep jobs and be successful, showed why it is he is the current reigning champion of the series and why he as won the last 2 races at Kansas. “Once you win at a track and figure out what you need it makes it easier to go back with a better car everytime. But this was a perfect car. And I was doing everything I could to not screw it up. ” said Keselowski. “It’s just an unbelievable car and unbelievable day and to Nationwide and all the fans, thank you so much. It’s a privilege to get to do this.”
Edwards, also knew that Keselowski had the perfect car. “I just think he didn’t realize how fast his car was and I think he was maybe trying to just try every little trick he could to make sure he won. It is my opinion he didn’t have to do that.” stated Edwards who posted his fourth top 10 finish in seven races at Kansas, and his 23rd top 10 finish in 2011.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr finished 5th and maintained the series points lead. “It was and up and down day. We didn’t start out very good, not like we wanted to or normally do. We were on the loose side, on the tight side and couldn’t hit it in the middle like we needed to. To battle back from three pit road issues that we had, I stalled it once, got a penalty for speeding and had a slow stop. To still come back and run top five is not too bad. ” stated Stenhouse Jr. after the race.
All in all the race had it’s moments. There was the side by side race between Edwards and Keselowski that could easily have ended in disaster. Instead the talent of both drivers brought them through to the end. There was the dust up between Aric Almirola and Brian Scott that ended with Scott confronting Almirola on pit road after the race. But for the most part the race was a snoozer.
From the drop of green flag it was obvious that the Penske Dodge was the dominate car. At one point Keselowski had a four second lead over second place Edwards. Though there was some hard core racing going on in the back of the pack for the most part it was a race of conservation. Conservation of car. Conservation of points. And maybe even conservation of sanity.
Unofficial Race Results Kansas Lottery 300, Kansas Speedway http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=30 ========================================= Pos. No. Driver Make Points ========================================= 1 2 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0 2 1 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0 3 12 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 41 4 4 33 Paul Menard Chevrolet 0 5 9 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 39 6 19 4 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0 7 8 18 Joey Logano Toyota 0 8 14 32 Brian Vickers Chevrolet 0 9 17 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 35 10 3 20 Ryan Truex * Toyota 34 11 21 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 33 12 7 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 33 13 10 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 32 14 6 70 David Stremme Chevrolet 0 15 15 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 29 16 25 62 Michael Annett Toyota 28 17 5 11 Brian Scott Toyota 27 18 28 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0 19 11 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 25 20 16 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 24 21 13 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 23 22 23 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 22 23 27 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 22 24 32 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 20 25 18 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 19 26 24 182 Reed Sorenson Dodge 18 27 33 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 17 28 37 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 16 29 41 39 Joey Gase Ford 0 30 39 28 Derrike Cope Dodge 14 31 36 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 13 32 42 23 Angela Cope Chevrolet 0 33 40 40 Josh Wise Chevrolet 11 34 31 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 10 35 35 171 Matthew Carter Ford 9 36 22 103 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 8 37 38 175 Carl Long Ford 7 38 34 141 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 6 39 26 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 5 40 30 147 Charles Lewandoski * Chevrolet 4 41 20 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 3 42 29 150 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 0 43 43 127 J.J. Yeley Ford 0 -
Edwards grabs the NNS Kansas Lottery 300 pole
Carl Edwards took the pole position for Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Kansas Lottery 300. This was Edwards’ 27th pole award in 240 starts in the series. He is third on the all-time pole list and just one away from second, held by the legendary Tommy Ellis.
This is Edwards 6th pole and 27th top-10 start in 2011. Previous to today his best start had been 3rd at Kansas.
[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”246″]
[/media-credit]Pulling the outside front row was the 22 of Brad Keselowski. This will be Brad’s 19th top ten start of 2011 and his second in six races at Kansas. Keselowski’s lap was 31.527 (171.262 mph).Starting third is Ryan Truex in the Joe Gibbs #20. This is Ryan’s first top 10 start at Kansas and his sixth in his 15 races this season. Truex’s lap was a quick 31.566 trip around the mile and half track.
The NNS field is separated by 1.254 (6.57 mph).
Dennis Setzer, Tim Andrews, Danny O’Quinn, Jennifer Jo Cobb, and Mark Green failed to make the field.
Starting Lineup Kansas Lottery 300, Kansas Speedway http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/qual.php?race=30 =========================================== Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time =========================================== 1 60 Carl Edwards Ford 171.521 31.483 2 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 171.282 31.527 3 20 Ryan Truex* Toyota 171.07 31.566 4 33 Paul Menard Chevrolet 170.697 31.635 5 11 Brian Scott Toyota 170.342 31.701 6 70 David Stremme Chevrolet 170.175 31.732 7 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 170.132 31.74 8 18 Joey Logano Toyota 169.593 31.841 9 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 169.396 31.878 10 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 169.231 31.909 11 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 169.141 31.926 12 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 169.019 31.949 13 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 168.45 32.057 14 32 Brian Vickers Chevrolet 168.361 32.074 15 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 168.34 32.078 16 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 168.104 32.123 17 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 167.89 32.164 18 81 Blake Koch* Dodge 167.884 32.165 19 4 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 167.874 32.167 20 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 167.79 32.183 21 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 167.619 32.216 22 103 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 167.048 32.326 23 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 167.022 32.331 24 182 Reed Sorenson Dodge 166.945 32.346 25 62 Michael Annett Toyota 166.697 32.394 26 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 166.589 32.415 27 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 166.559 32.421 28 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 166.246 32.482 29 150 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 166.072 32.516 30 147 Charles Lewandoski* Chevrolet 165.975 32.535 31 15 Timmy Hill* Ford 165.904 32.549 32 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 165.883 32.553 33 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 165.827 32.564 34 141 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 165.558 32.617 35 171 Matthew Carter Ford 165.492 32.63 36 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 165.365 32.655 37 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 165.36 32.656 38 175 Carl Long Ford 165.355 32.657 39 28 Derrike Cope Dodge 165.239 32.68 40 40 Josh Wise Chevrolet 164.634 32.8 41 39 Joey Gase+ Ford 164.288 32.869 42 23 Angela Cope+ Chevrolet 162.323 33.267 43 127 J.J. Yeley Ford 164.951 32.737 -
Talladega Sweetens The Pot
In the world of the tandem draft, Talladega just sweetened the pot with $100,000 bonus, to be paid to the driver who takes the lead the most number of times throughout the race at the 100th lead change at the the Good Sam Club 500. In case of a tie they will go to laps led to break it. If there is still a tie the money will be split between the two drivers that are tied.
[media-credit name=”talladegasuperspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″]
[/media-credit]The rule change with the larger restrictor plate and the pop off value, won’t make a big difference in the way they race at Talladega according to Brad Keselowski. But Kurt Busch does think it will change the way that mid pack runners race. He stated that he felt that it would intensify the race and the intensity with which everyone approaches the race.It is interesting to note that the bonus is not covered by a sponsor and is being paid by Talladega Speedway itself and is not covered by an insurance policy. It is an actual cash bonus from Talladega Speedway.
The past three races at Talladega saw 87 and 88 lead changes, which is the NASCAR record.Talladego also holds the NASCAR records for leaders with 29, and fastest average race speed of 188.354 mph and the fastest Qualifying speed of 212.809.
“We believe that this will add to the excitement of the race at Talladega. We already have the most exciting racing in Nascar.” stated the Chairman of Talladega Speedway, Grant Lynch,. “This is is just going to add to it. Our fans look forward to seeing a lot of lead changes. It makes sense to put an extra incentive on giving our fans what they want. The new rules package, that includes a larger restrictor plate opening, should give drivers the opportunity to really mix it up and pass even more in traffic.This is going to be an exciting race on Oct. 23rd and we look forward to potentially setting another NASCAR record.”
-
Matty’s Picks Vol. 21 – Kansas – Hollywood Casino 400 – October 9, 2011
“We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto”
I figured I would add some kind of excitement to this week’s race by using a famous movie quote to break the ice in this week’s column.
There were 17, uneventful lead changes among 9 drivers during the STP 400 earlier this year at Kansas Speedway, a race that I chose to watch the back of my eyelids rather than the on-track activities. According to this week’s media advance from NASCAR, Kansas Speedway was Brad Keselowski’s coming out party, winning there in June during the series’ first trip to the 1.5-mile track.
[media-credit name=”Kansasspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”250″]
[/media-credit]Apparently, I missed Keselowski’s run to the front in June, as he was only shown in the top spot for the last 9 laps, the only laps he lead all day. Keselowski’s run to the front started around lap 165, after the 5th and final caution flag flew during the STP 400. The final 102 laps would be run under green-flag conditions and Keselowski would go on to win by a margin of 2.813 seconds over second-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr.My picks for June’s race at Kansas Speedway were Jeff Gordon as my Winner Pick and A.J. Allmendinger for my Dark Horse. Gordon finished 4th, and Allmendinger flirted with a Top-15 for the majority of the race, but failed in the fuel-mileage game and ended up finishing 26th.
I can’t say that I’m overly-excited for the race on Sunday, partly due to the fact that it’s almost guaranteed that that race will come down to fuel-mileage in the end. I AM excited for the second-half of The Chase to start, and to finally visit some tracks that will keep me awake on Sunday Afternoon.
Dover Recap
There was no place to go for me but up after my performance two weeks ago at New Hampshire. I had my worst combined total finishes two weeks ago with a 25th and 26th-place finish for my picks. I half-rebounded last week at Dover, scoring a top-5 for my winner pick.
Let’s start with the bad news this week.
Greg Biffle was my Dark Horse pick last week at the Monster Mile after an intense look at his statistics prior to last week’s AAA 400. In the prior 5 races at the Monster Mile, Biffle’s finishes were: 19th, 6th, 19th, 3rd, and 16th. In the 5 races prior to the start of the 2009 season, Biffle’s finishes were: 1st, 3rd, 6th, 2nd, and 8th.
After getting off to a solid start it appeared that Greg Biffle was headed for a top-10 finish in Dover today. He was running seventh when the field restarted on lap 358 following a caution but lost control of his 3M Cubitron II Ford three laps later and made contact with the inside wall. Biffle brought the car to pit road for repairs but went two laps down in the process. When the checkered flag dropped Biffle was in the 27th position. He dropped one spot in the points to 15th.
“We had a fast car from the start,” said Biffle. “The guys worked hard in the pits all day and we should have had a top-10 finish at the least. We had a pit road penalty early on and were able to bounce back from that but we were just too loose on that last run.”
My winner pick faired a lot better than Biffle last week, finishing in the runner-up spot. Spinning his tires on the final restart might have cost Jimmie Johnson his seventh victory at Dover International Speedway, but it didn’t hurt his run for a sixth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.
Johnson had led a race-high 157 laps coming into the final restart at Dover’s one-mile concrete oval. He lined up on the front row with Kurt Busch and spun the tires slightly, giving Busch the edge. Johnson crossed the finish line second, improving five spots in the championship standings to fifth.
Johnson spoke of his troubles on the final restart following the AAA 400 last Sunday “I just got a poor restart when I was the leader, and for the last restart, I didn’t get a good one again,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t race (Busch) through Turns 1 and 2. The cars were very equal. We saw that.”
I look to parlay my half-rebound last week at Dover into full-on success this weekend at Kansas.
Kansas Picks
Chevrolet has claimed 6 victories in the 10 Hollywood Casino 400’s, the most of any other manufacturer, but Chevy hasn’t seen Victory Lane at Kansas since October of 2009. Chevy’s recent lack of success has me looking at a Dodge and a Ford on Sunday.
Winner Pick
Due to his success at Kansas in June, and his lack of success in The Chase thus far, Brad Keselowski is receiving my Winner Pick this week. Even though he led just 9 laps en route to his victory at Kansas in June, his teammate Kurt Busch led a race-high 4 times for 152 laps.
Busch’s soaked up Penske Racing’s pool of luck last week at Dover, and I think its Brad’s turn to hit the spotlight this weekend. He raced his way into the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup in dramatic fashion, but has failed to reach Victory Lane since his win at Bristol in late-August.
Keselowski is ready to put his name back in the discussion for the Driver’s Championship this year and I say he is the favorite to win on Sunday. “We do want to send a message this weekend that we are going to fight to the finish,” Keselowski said.
At this point in the season, Keselowski is looking to rebound from a disappointing power-steering issue and 20th place finish last week, and put his name back in the mix to take home the Sprint Cup.
Dark Horse Pick
David Ragan will be making his 175th Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Sticking with my trend of not picking a Chase driver for my Dark Horse pick, I think Ragan stands the best shot of bringing home a Top-5 out of all non-chasers this weekend.
His past finishes at Kansas are less than impressive but Ragan and his Crew Chief, Drew Blickensderfer seem to have the fuel mileage game down to a science. In the prior two races decided by gas (Geico 400 at Chicagoland and Sylvania 300 at Loudon), Ragan finished 11th and 7th respectively.
Ragan has five prior Sprint Cup starts at Kansas Speedway. With those five starts, Ragan has an average starting position of 16.8 and finishing position of 17.6.
Ragan said earlier this week “We always look to improve at tracks from the first event there and Kansas is a track that really fits our program. Our engines run well there and our cars are fast. Drew and I are going to work hard to try and grab another win for our UPS team.”
He will be piloting the car that finished 13th at Kansas Speedway earlier this year, and I think Ragan is a driver ready to pounce on the chances of playing spoiler on Sunday.
That’s all for this week, stay tuned next week as I make my first trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway with SpeedwayMedia.com editor, Ed Coombs and Photo Journalist, Brad Keppel. I look forward to an exciting week next week, so be sure to stay tuned for live updates on my trip on Twitter @ML_B_Lo.
Until Next Week…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!
-
Biffle takes the Hollywood Casino 400 pole at Kansas
Qualifying at Kansas took place under cool and cloudy conditions with wind gusts that reached up to 25 mph. At the end of qualifying, Greg Biffle’s Sherwin Williams Ford from Roush Fenway Racing was sitting on the pole with a lap of 174.887 MPH. His teammate Carl Edwards will start outside the front row in the Aflac Ford.
[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]“Well, it was a really good lap. I think what I really would rather talk about is how slow we were when we unloaded off the truck. It was quite amazing. We were 35th or 37th when we unloaded off the truck today.” Biffle said. “We made about six qualifying runs and the last one was pretty dang good and they changed a bunch more stuff on it for the real one. The car was really good.”The pole for the Hollywood Casino 400 was the 8th of Biffle’s career and his best start in 11 tries at the mile and a half track.
Edwards commented he had never started this far up at Kansas so he was excited. Edwards said “How you qualify is not indicative of how you are going to run in the race.” But he stated that he was excited to be starting so far up in the field.
It is Roush Fenway’s eighth Sprint Cup pole in 2011, with all four of the team’s Cup drivers having won multiple poles this season. It also marked Roush Fenway’s second Sprint Cup pole at Kansas and its first since 2005.
Kyle Busch who starts 3rd tomorrow stated that he hoped to have a much better race than he had last time here at Kansas. He also stated that he was happy to see Clint Bowyer added to the Toyota family.
“We were looking for a little bit more than that, but certainly the pace is a little bit slower than we expected qualifying to be. So far so good. We’ve dodged a couple bullets. The M&M’s Camry unloaded good.” Busch said.
Austin Dillon qualified 26th to make his first start in the Sprint Cup Series.
“Thinking about it going up there, I wasn’t nervous all the way up until it was time to go. And then it’s just like you think of every little thing that could go wrong. We were fast enough in practice to get in really fast. That time we actually picked up some more speed, but I think if I would have calmed down a little bit it would have helped my lap.” Dillon said.
The field is separated by only 0.86 of a second.
Starting Lineup Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=30 =========================================== Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time =========================================== 1 16 Greg Biffle Ford 174.887 30.877 2 99 Carl Edwards Ford 174.571 30.933 3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 174.447 30.955 4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 174.436 30.957 5 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 174.413 30.961 6 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 174.317 30.978 7 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 174.222 30.995 8 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 174.126 31.012 9 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 174.092 31.018 10 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 174.048 31.026 11 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 174.031 31.029 12 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 174.02 31.031 13 6 David Ragan Ford 173.863 31.059 14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 173.617 31.103 15 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 173.605 31.105 16 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 173.527 31.119 17 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 173.327 31.155 18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 173.238 31.171 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 173.182 31.181 20 20 Joey Logano Toyota 173.171 31.183 21 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 173.066 31.202 22 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 172.944 31.224 23 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 172.933 31.226 24 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 172.889 31.234 25 46 Scott Speed Ford 172.866 31.238 26 198 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 172.723 31.264 27 0 David Reutimann Toyota 172.607 31.285 28 55 J.J. Yeley Ford 172.568 31.292 29 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 172.535 31.298 30 34 David Gilliland Ford 172.43 31.317 31 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 172.397 31.323 32 30 David Stremme Chevrolet 172.177 31.363 33 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 172.161 31.366 34 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 171.936 31.407 35 71 Andy Lally* Ford 171.86 31.421 36 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 171.521 31.483 37 13 Casey Mears Toyota 171.429 31.5 38 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 170.989 31.581 39 7 Reed Sorenson Dodge 170.837 31.609 40 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 170.53 31.666 41 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 170.482 31.675 42 32 Mike Bliss+ Ford 170.132 31.74 43 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 170.148 31.737 -
‘It’s all about the future. The future is bright.’; Bowyer joins MWR
One of the worst kept secrets in motorsports was announced at Kansas Speedway today. Clint Bowyer and 5 hour Energy have joined forces with MWR and Toyota to pursue the Sprint Cup in 2012. Bowyer a 6 year veteran of the series who has 4 victories and 2 pole positions 30 top 5 finishes and 90 top 10 finishes ended months of speculation with the announcement today.
[media-credit name=”michaelwaltrip.com” align=”alignright” width=”241″]
[/media-credit]“It’s all about the future. And the future looks bright.” stated Clint Bowyer who declined to give specifics about the crumbling and ultimately ending of the relationship with RCR. “When I took them 5 hour energy and they still couldn‘t put together a deal I realized that was the end of it. But that is the past and this is about the future.” said Bowyer.Bowyer commented on his new sponsor in conjunction with his past sponsors by saying, “To go from Jack Daniels to Cheerios as you can imagine was a huge adjustment. This one is much easier to with.”
Michael Waltrip stated, “We are very proud to announce the addition of Clint Bowyer and 5 hour energy to MWR. This is a watershed moment for our young organization, Cint is a proven winner and consistent Chase participant. He had a lot of options and it makes me proud that Clint and 5 hour Energy have chose to race with us.”
Bowyer and Michael Waltrip unveiled the No 15 5 hour Energy Toyota. 5 Hour Energy will be on the car for 24 races and 12 races still remain available on the car. The car a highly visible and appealing black and red and gold. With the number tilted backwards as per Clint Bowyers request.
-
Sorenson to McDonald Motorsports
Reed Sorenson will finish the year in the #82 K-Love Dodge for Randy McDonald Motorsports. Reed is tight lipped about what happened stating only that he “is very disappointed about the developments.” And that he intends “to continue on and gather as many points as we possibly can and finish as well as we possibly can given the circumstances.” Steve Turner has offered no comment other than his original statement announcing that Reed had been removed from the ride. The team declined comment at the track.
Reed is also in the Robby Gordon Dodge for the Sprint Cup series as well this weekend.
-
NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: HEY TOTO, WE’RE BACK IN KANSAS AND I HOPE YOU BROUGHT A CAN OF GAS
Round four of the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Chase For The Championship will be held this Sunday at the beautiful Kansas Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval. The Hollywood Casino 400 could likely alter an already skin tight points profile. The cream of the crop teams, at the top of the standings, will be looking to expand on their status as championship contenders. The teams in the middle of the rankings will be counting on a strong Kansas run to join them. The teams at the bottom of the dozen Chase hopefuls will be desperately trying to pull a very large rabbit out of a small magician’s hat in hopes of getting back into championship mode before it’s too late.
For you NASCAR racing fans who are not especially fond of fuel mileage outcomes, you may want to cinch up your seat belts this Sunday. The Hollywood Casino 400 has the distinct possibility of becoming a case of who had enough Sunoco Racing Fuel and who needed some.
************
THE VEGAS BREAKDOWN
To get a good idea regarding which driver has the good Kansas numbers, and who needs some, we again turn to the professionals from the Las Vegas based World Sports Exchange, (WSE).
Topping the WSE’s Kansas profile is Jimmie Johnson who has been rated at 5 to 1 odds. A strong run at Dover last week elevated the five time champion from tenth to fifth in the standings and only 13 points from the top. There’s a good reason why Johnson is on top of the WSE Kansas listing: he has very good numbers at this track. He’s a previous winner there and has compiled three top five finishes, eight top tens and has an excellent average finish ratio, (AFR), of 9.1. He also qualifies well at Kansas and has won a series high three poles. This driver is a rock solid wager consideration and one to watch this Sunday.
At 6 to 1 you will find a quartet of heavy hitters featuring Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart.
Carl Edwards is currently tied, with Kevin Harvick, for the series’ points lead. He has been highly consistent lately and Sunday could be the day he scores his first win at Kansas. He has three top fives there and a 11.4 AFR. At this point of the season he a solid bet.
So is Jeff Gordon who may be a major driver to watch at Kansas. He’s currently ninth in the standings but only 19 points away. Gordon’s strength at Kansas lies in the numbers he’s collected there. He’s a two time winner and currently holds the track record for top five finishes at 8 as well as top ten finishes at nine. He also has an excellent 8.1 AFR.
When it comes to Kyle Busch I’m going to second guess the WSE and assume that they believe his Joe Gibbs Racing team has been placing a lot of emphasis on their intermediate track program. With five of the ten Chase events being held on intermediate tracks it makes sense. Busch is eighth in the standings and 15 points away. His Kansas numbers are not very good. He’s not only seeking his first win there he’s also seeking his first top five. He only has one top ten and an alarmingly high AFR of 22.4.
Tony Stewart won the first two Chase races and then had a horrible day at Dover which dropped him to third in the standings. However, Stewart is only nine points from the top and he’s capable of becoming a major player at Kansas next Sunday. He’s a two time winner there with five top fives, eight top tens and an 11.9 AFR. That’s assuming the team can avoid the horrible handling problems they experienced last weekend.
At 7 to 1 odds is Kurt Busch. Like his younger brother, he’s still seeking his first win and top five at Kansas. He also needs to improve on his 18.1 AFR. On the plus side Busch has the resources that comes with those high powered Penske Racing Dodges and he does have momentum from last weekend’s win at Dover which moved him to fourth in the standings nine points away.
At 9 to 1 odds you will find Chase contenders Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick. Kenseth is seventh in the standings this week 14 points away. He’s looking for his first win at Kansas and currently has a 19.3 AFR. Kenseth has a way of showing up at the end of a race and making a strong showing. If the car is right he could possibly do that again on Sunday.
Harvick is tied with Carl Edwards at the top of the Chase standings. His Kansas numbers are not that strong: no wins, one top five and a 14.3 AFR. But the real strength of this team is their refusal to bow to the pressure that comes with trying to win the Chase.
Brad Keselowski is ranked at 12 to 1 on Sunday. Now here’s a driver who is a serious consideration as a long shot wager. He’s currently one of the hottest drivers in the series. He’s also driving one of those powerful Penske Dodges. He understands the Kansas Speedway and proved it by winning there this past June. He’s sixth in the standings, 14 points away, and he’ll be looking to elevate that status this Sunday.
At 16 to 1 you will find the tandem of Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle. Both have the possibility of becoming race winning spoilers at Kansas. Hamlin’s disappointing start in the Chase virtually has him eliminated from championship contention and his focus is now on winning races.
After failing to make this year’s Chase line up, Greg Biffle is looking to build momentum for next year. Kansas is a very strong track for this driver. He’s a two time winner there, including last year’s event, with six top fives along with a very healthy 8.3 AFR. This is another driver who is worthy of longshot consideration.
Looking at the WSE’s middle tier this week, Kasey Kahne would love to get Red Bull Racing a win this year before he moves to his new ride at Hendrick Motorsports. However, the win may not come at Kansas. His numbers there, including an 18.9 AFR, are not that strong.
At 28 to 1 odds is the quartet of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin and Jamie McMurray.
The Kansas race could turn out to be a go or blow event in terms of Earnhardt’s Chase hopes. He currently tenth in the standings and 34 points away. Unfortunately his Kansas numbers are not that strong: no wins, one top five along with a 17.5 AFR.
Clint Bowyer has a top five finish and a 12.8 AFR at Kansas. But he could turn out to be a longshot spoiler on Sunday. First off, he’s from nearby Emporia-Kansas and would love to score a win at his home track. He will also be enjoying the euphoria of knowing what his 2012 plans are. By the time you read this, there should have been an announcement regarding Bowyer moving to Michael Waltrip Racing.
At the bottom of this week’s WSE listing you will find drivers David Ragan, Martin Truex Jr, Jeff Burton and Brian Vickers at 38 to 1. Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya, David Reutimann and A J Allmendinger closes the list at 48 to 1. Any driver not mentioned by the WSE is automatically listed at 15 to 1.
Now for the disclaimer: NASCAR wants us to remind you that these posted numbers are for entertainment and information purposes. They neither encourage or condone the placing of wagers on their events.
On the other side of this are the extremely high unemployment figures in Las Vegas so maybe we should call the WSE to help create more jobs in Nevada.
*************
THE RACE BREAKDOWN
The Hollywood Casino 400 is 267 laps/400.5 miles around the Kansas Speedway’s 1.5 mile, D shaped, oval.
The race has 46 entries vying for the 43 starting berths. 11 of these entries are on the go or go home list meaning they are not a guaranteed a start because they are currently outside of NASCAR’s top 35 in owner’s points These teams will have to rely on qualifying speed to make the race.
The Kansas Speedway opened in 2001. Jeff Gordon won the first and second NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Kansas. 11 Cup races there has produced eight different race winners. Seven of the 11 races, that ended under green flag conditions, had a margin of victory under one second.
The track qualifying record, 180.856 MPH, was set by Matt Kenseth in October, 2005. 11 races at Kansas has produced eight different pole winners. Seven of 11 races have been won by drivers who started within the top ten.
The Kansas Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval has 15 degrees of banking in the turns, 10.4 degrees in the tri oval and five degrees on the backstretch. The frontstretch is 2,685 feet long while the backstretch measures 2,707 feet. The asphalt racing surface is 55 feet wide. The speedway presently has seating for 74,000 fans.
The speedway’s pit road is 60 feet wide and has 44 stalls that measures 30 by 18 feet. The pit window is expected to be 48 to 52 laps dependent upon fuel mileage.
The Kansas weather forecast calls for partly cloudy skies on Saturday with daytime highs in the low 80’s and southerly winds 15 to 20 MPH. The Sunday forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, temperatures in the upper 70’s and a 20 percent chance of showers. In the event of rain, the speedway has a fleet of six jet dryers that can dry the track in approximately two hours.
The Hollywood Casino 400 will be broadcast live by ESPN with the “Countdown” show beginning at 1 pm eastern time. The green flag will fall at 2 pm et. The race re air will be on Monday morning, on ESPN2, at 12 am et and again on Wednesday, on SPEED, at 12 pm et.
